Discussion for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Start discussion for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson here.

Discussion Questions

1. What is meant by "Gonzo journalism"?

2. What does Thompson have to say about the American Dream? Give some possible interpretations of the "American Dream." Are any of these realized by Thompson?

3. How is Las Vegas representative of America?

4. How does the book portray the 1960s?

5. Describe the book’s portrayal of psychedelic drugs. How does it differ from other texts about drugs written in the same time period?

6. What is the significance of the hitchhiker?

7. Compare and contrast the hitchhiker and Lucy, the runaway artist. What do each of them say about innocence and the corruptible nature of society?

8. Discuss some of the specific references in Fear and Loathing in terms of the context of the book, such as Horatio Alger, Muhammad Ali, Surrealistic Pillow, or Timothy Leary.

9. Why does Duke fixate on Horatio Alger? How is Alger’s work related to the novel’s theme

10. Discuss the place of violence (for example, drug related violence, the Vietnam War, etc.) in Fear and Loathing. How does external violence influence Thompson's internal state?

11. List the characteristics of "the Great Red Shark" and "the White Whale." What do each of these reflect about American culture?

12. How reliable a witness is Thompson? Given his constant drug use, how valuable are his perceptions?

13. Is it more accurate to categorize Fear and Loathing as a novel or as a work of journalism? Explain your reasoning.

14. Discuss Ralph Steadman’s illustrations to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What do they add to the narrative?

[Stuart]

It's been a while since I last picked up this book and it was the first of Thompsons that I read. I first read it as a 21 year old stoner and got into the whole imagery. To a young man living in a small village in the UK it represented everything that was great about America and taking drugs. I re-read 15 years later, no longer taking drugs, nor so easily impressed with over exaggerated versions of Vegas. It's difficult to know where the boundaries between fact and fiction lie. I like to think that there's more truth in the description of the desert races and way that Vegas was back in the tail end of the 1960s.Hinter writes a romanticized version of a time long gone and it should be viewed in much the same light as Wuthering Heights. Did it really happen? Maybe may be not. Just enjoy it for the ride.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Wow. I started this book with the mindset that I would probably hate it. I will admit that I completely can't relate to the drug culture. Were the early '70s really that crazy? Despite not liking the subject matter or the bad language, I have to admit that the writing is brilliant. Thompson is an engaging storyteller and quite funny. This book is like the total flip-side of the American dream. Makes you wonder just how much of this he may have actually experienced.

[Connie]

This book is a wild, humorous trip through the 1960-70s drug culture since Duke and Gonzo are popping drugs constantly while they are supposed to be working as journalists. This was a combination of truth and fiction since Hunter S. Thompson actually did go to Vegas with the attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta to cover a dirt track motorcycle race, and the National DA Association's Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Since the characters were on a variety of hallucinogenic trips, it is hard to know what is real, and what is dreamed. The illustrations by Ralph Steadman show Duke and Gonzo as freaks on drugs. There is a lot of clever satire woven into this drug-soaked ride.

[Rosemarie]

I made a deal with my daughter that I would read this book if she read All Quiet on the Western Front. She has yet to read the book and that was ten years ago. Fear and Loathing is not my kind of book but it wasn't horrible-- just totally crazy.

[George P.]

I read fear and loathing in Las Vegas when I was a young man and now in my 60s decided to read it again, partly because I wasn't sure if I had ever finished it. I didn't remember very much of it after about 40 years but I did remember some bits so I think I actually had finished it back then. the novel seems to really be a lot of bits put together, And some bits are better than others.